A Night of Music With Papa and Son Armerding
 by Cliff Garber  ·  21 October 2006

Well here it is eight minutes past midnight and I figured I’d beat Kathy to the punch getting my blog in about tonight’s show. Just got back from leading a poor devoted fan who come up all the way from Brewster on Cape Cod, a worried, “lost” soul at this point who had no idea how to get home from Marblehead, out to Route 1 so he could take it straight to the Tobin Bridge. From there he’d get onto the Southeast Expressway, which he knows very well, and head straight home. It also gave me a pleasant ride, during which I could unwind from a most exhilerating night of music with Jake and Taylor Armerding, and then get home mellowed out enough to get a good night’s sleep. All I can say is that “two Dings are better than one”. LOL!!What a fabulous, truly magnificent night of music with these two guys. I’d seen Taylor perform with Northern Lights many years ago, have been following Jake’s career for about eight years since first seeing him at Club Passim, and saw them BOTH perform together at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival two years ago. Tonight was a dream come true, father and son together again at The Me and Thee! Jake’s voice has grown rich and powerful, his songwriting more refined and seasoned. His violin, mandolin and guitar playing skills are equal with any of his peers, the new, younger, up n’ coming genre of performers. Taylor’s mandolin “sang” like his melodious tenor voice. Together this team gave me one of the top ten nights I’ve ever seen at the coffeehouse in my nearly twenty years as a member. “Ithaca”, “Adonai”, “Color You In”, Simon and Garfunkel’s “Keeping the Customer Satisfied” were among the tunes they performed. Jake did more than several of the tunes that will be included on his new CD due out in the spring of next year. Well, before my face crashes into the keyboard and cracks it into a zillion pieces, I’m off to bed for the night. Shalom!

—Susie Pascar